Differential fuel regulator for turbojet engines



March 25, 1952 E. c. HARTLEY 2,590,312

DIFFERENTIAL FUEL REGULATOR FoR TURBOJET ENGINES Filed Jan. 51, 1947 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 EMMETTC. HARTLEY March 25, 1952 E. c. HARTLEY 2,590,312

DIF'F'ERENTIAL FUEL REGULATOR FOR TURBOJET ENGINES Filed Jan. 31, 1947 2SHEETS-SHEET 2 Fill-r. 3-

EMMETTC. HARTLEY Patented Mar. 25, 1952 Emmett C. Hartley,

.iliai ike fe m a 'corporatid Application January :21, 194.1,.se;imo..'. 125.491

The following specification relates detail to improvements indiflerential .iuel regulatqrs fgr turbojet engines, ada-pted: primarilyfor use in aviation but suitable wherever au'd k e1 is required tobeadjustedbr control ance with needs orchan'gelinpper ating u tions' v Inthe development ,of airplanes v jet engines, flying ispeedTisf'pr'opQrt'L volume of the .j'e'tw'ithoutrg d ,tozc h altitude or .rarefactionioftlie' a r. T T Z the jet, 111mm, i'shependntupbnth v 1 k Superchargedair. (As altitude is reached m1 1 a rarer atmosphere encountered, the;rce lie jet increases and, consequently,1th 'super'harging resulting rrmtlie mcvenjierit of the ;t u r he is accelerated.

Some means must be devised for compensating for this changegi'nfitiifrbin) sp the absence of someniechfaieal the operator of theairplane st fuel throttle manually fin for er constant flying speed.[This the feeding of the fuel by autom U pendent of attention by theoperator.

A further b e .ofm j nY nt Q-n i to..;ma ain a constant speedofrotationior thfefturbinenn'd thus indirectly of the 'supercharge r thefeed of fuel with ch'ange inelevation. A still further object Of lmy invention isgto pro vide means for automatically reducing'th olume offuel by cutting idofwntr 'e throttlejwh ever means' and' wiring diagrampf,jcontrpl s gr'ja differential regulator for 'thejjuel suphlypfjfaturbojet engine and the like;

Fig. 2 is an end View of the .fuel regulatoz ivith the motor removed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section of the same on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2and 4 is an erse w i eal. r -seme of the fuel valve taken on the line 44of Fi .3. Generally speaking, the invention consists of a differentiallyoperating throttling means con- .2 car t (cheeke) means undenthle direct"scatterer "the opera 6i.

Thus I have s hovvnja gear casing} Rvitli'tvhi'c'h is associated a valvehousing 11' and a "variable se was t l e it fq'tfi biq l .Th eseiristriimentalities areassemibled together i riei ime ie. Q

As shownin Fig. vltheelectric motor is operate ydirec't currentifrofnlea'dsf'9 connectedito the poriven'tional electric' circuit or theplane.

Qlqiirect gu em riam meta-ids ,9 is supplied trifoiigh'a voltageregumtor' 10;" This is statesmciently pelow the prevailing voltage ofthe circuit his so that var ab e rs istance may be eces 'in U the'electric circuit 1 thus altering the "motor speed asidesired. Conductorfl 5 v leads ,ifromthe Winding [4 to a'resistanc'eelement I16; A contact"member" l l movable alon g' the resi tance [6 I is "cted. in "turn,"to, thefoperating circuit ofthe 'o 'r aimaybe adjustedandjthuss rve asp ec'tin "'ii's ofbontrolling the op en ingof a p" teetive measure andto prevent full speed opera on when mange; of 't'he jet, becomesexcessive a mere th'anjtheengine parts can withstand, a; ..therm tatelement/J s' s 1 provided.

It erati cor i nectedftofthe.armQ" and "serves on ex 'ssi'vej o'p'eatirig 1 temperatures to introduce more resistaneefibm the" vvin d'ing sQe fih s e f. he met n-ii er ase 'h' 8fperat'esi' poria speed aii'age ii a i f f is" eeecie i l ii j 2 I Z -ournaIed in sleeve e i let w t atra ih lsbee ins Z8-:-;

shaft 29 is journaled in the bearing; g8;and;-on

me zerqiseties 9nd satfigea nin on'fiol .frhis .121. e era ii el t pnnei t p w r, akeoff driven by the turbine of the engine.

A train 3| of reducing gears is carried upon the inner end of shaft 29and countershait 32. The low speed gear 33 is fixed on a shaft 34 whichis journaled in a sleeve bearing 95 passing transversely through thepartition 36 of the gear casing. The inner end of shaft 34 has a beveleddrive gear 31 opposite drive gear 25.

Sleeve bearings 24 and form journals for the differential cage 26. Idlegears 38, 39 are mounted loosely on transverse shaft 46 in the cage 26.This forms the well-known type of differential gearing by which cage 26is controlled in its movements either in one or the other direction orheld stationary by appropriate rotation of the shafts 23 and 29.

One side of the cage 26 is extended to form a sleeve 4| looselyjournaled on the sleeve bearing 24. Sleeve 4|, in turn, carries,loosely, a ring gear 42. Gear 42 is separated from the cage 26 by meansof a, friction clutch 43. A tension spring 44 and lock nuts 45 maintainsuitable frictional engagement between the ring gear 42 and the cage 26so that the ring gear will normally follow the cage in its rotation.

Beneath the gear casing 6 there is mounted the valve housing 1. Thishousing has an inlet port 46 on one side. This port has a lower branchpassageway 41 by which the fluid fuel is brought around to approach thevalve opening 48 from opposite sides (see Fig. 4). In this manner fuelis delivered in a relatively large volume and at high pressure onopposite sides of the valve.

The valve chamber 48 is generally cylindrical and contains abobbin 49which is closed at the ends but has intermediate chordal openings 50.

The valve outlet 51 is connected to the valve chamber 48 on the oppositeside from the inlet 46. It is also provided with by-passes so that itopens on opposite sides of the bobbin 49 in the same manner in which theinlet port is arranged.

By the above arrangement fluid fuel under high pressure is introducedthrough inlet 46 to opposite sides of the bobbin valve 49. When thevalve is opened by partial rotation of the bobbin, fuel enters bothchordal openings and passes longitudinally of the valve to the dischargeports provided. In this way the fuel leaves the valve on the same sidein which it enters and the pressures on opposite sides of the valve arebalanced.

The bobbin 49 is journaled. in end plates 58, 58. One end of the bobbinis extended to form the shaft 52 in a chamber 53 at one end of the valvehousing (see Fig. 3). This shaft 52 has keyed to it a ring gear 53 inmesh with ring gear 42. A stop pin 54 mounted on end wall 5| is carriedin an arcuate slot in ring gear 53 permitting limited partial rotationof the ring gear 53 and consequent opening and closing of the valveitself.

A lever 55 also keyed to shaft 52 is adapted to be operated manuallywhenever it is desired to open or close the valve independently of theaction of the differential regulator. The ring gear 53 and lever 55 areheld on the shaft 52 by means of lock nut 56.

Operation of the regulating means will be apparent. The desired motivepower is under control of the operator through his manual adjustment ofthe rheostat l4. This first determines the speed of the motor 8 and thedriving gear 25.

Operation of the jet motor rotates the turbine and indirectly the pinion30 and driving gear 31.

Relative rotation of the differential gear between the gears 25 and 31will cause ring gears 42 and 53 to operate the fuel feeding valve 49.

In practice the rarefaction of the atmosphere at higher elevations willincrease the turbine speed and thus partially throttle the fuel valve.This maintains the motor shaft speed constant. The converse effect takesplace when the plane comes down to lower and denser atmospheres. Therethe decrease in speed of the turbine due to heavier load of thesupercharger produces relative rotation of the differential gear andpartial opening of the fuel valve. This fuel valve is uncilser emergencycontrol from the auxiliary lever The'lever overcomes the friction of theclutch anld permits independent adjustment of the fuel va ve.

In the event that the jet heat becomes excessive thermostat l8 willimpose added resistance [6 in the motor circuit and thus reduce thespeed of gear 25. Relative rotation of the differential gear will havethe same effect as increase speed of the turbine pinion 30 and thus thefuel valve will be partially throttled.

While the principles of my invention have been disclosed above in theirpreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the regulator may bedesigned with considerable latitude as to proportions, materials andarrangement without departing from the scope of the invention as definedin the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, means for regulating the fuel fed to an internalcombustion engine comprising, a fuel valve, a valve adjusting means, adifferential gear for actuating the valve adjusting means, gearingresponsive to the engine speed acting on the differential gear, and amotor acting on said differential gear, a, manually operated speedcontrol for the motor and a thermostatic speed control for the motor,responsive to engine temperatures, both said controls being connected inseries.

2. In combination, speed regulating means for an internal combustionengine, a differential gear for actuating said regulating means,engine-speed responsive means acting on the differential gear, a motoracting independently upon the differential gear, a. manually operatedcontrol means for the motor and thermostatic means responsive to theoperation of the engine for independently controlling the speedregulating means said control and thermostatic means being connected inseries.

EMMETT C. HARTLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,749,569 DeFlorez Mar. 4, 19302,054,908 Moore Sept. 22, 1936 2,252,545 Benz Aug. 12, 1941 2,339,989Glanville Jan. 25, 1944 2,403,371 Ifield July 2, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 2,851 Great Britain Feb. 22, 1890

